Revision as of 21:51, 17 November 2007

View of Nanda Devi massif and Nanda Devi East from near Almora.

Uttarakhand[1], until 2007 known as Uttaranchal, is a stunningly beautiful state in the Himalayan North of India. It is broken up into a western part, named "Garhwal", and an eastern part named "Kumaon". Garhwal is more
easily accessed.

Rishikesh - the Yoga capital of the world, the biggest agglomeration of ashrams,meditation centers and temples.It is famous for its lakshman and ram jhula also.Sachcha Dham, ashram of Sachcha Baba is near lakshman jhula.Also there is Neelkanth Mahadev temple few kms from Rishikesh.

Roorkee - the educational capital of Uttarakhand.One of the seven Indian Institutes of Technology is here.

Understand

Talk

The local languages are Kumaoni and Garhwali, but everyone also speaks Hindi. English is not so common, but well-understood and spoken in some parts.

Get in

Get around

See

Nainital, Mussoorie and Ranikhet though it's better to treat these slightly overcrowded, touristy 'hill stations' as base camps to explore lots of other hidden jewels further afield in UA. In Kumaon region if near to almora you want to stay secluded you may choose Peora or Mukteshwar also. But do remember in Uttarakhand the journey itself is destination.

Do

Uttarakhand is one of the best regions in the world for trekking. At the lower levels, there are forests and wildlife. At the upper reaches, you go past the tree line to snow clad mountains.
There are many trip designs which can be conceived of, but there are perhaps around 20 trips
which are the most popular. See also: Leave-no-trace camping and Wilderness backpacking

Pindari glacier trip

Har ki doon

Trekking inside Nanda Devi Sanctuary

Sunder dhunga trek

Milam glacier trek

Kafni glacier trek

Gangotri to Badrinath - a lifetime dream for many an adventurer.

Eat

Pretty much all kinds of food is available here.
1.Kumauni
2.Gharwali
3.Indian
4.Chinese
5.Tibetan

In the tourists centres such as Badrinath, Gujarati, Marwari, and other regional cuisines are available for the hordes of religious pilgrims that descend on the holy sites every summer.

Drink

Uttarakhand has high excise taxes on beer and alcohol: a bottle of beer can cost 80-90 rupees, nearly double the price of some other states in India. Quite a few holy towns including Haridwar and Rishikesh are officially dry.

Cannabis is illegal, but widely used anyway.

Stay safe

The roads are a bit tricky, and taxi rides in the hills may appear dangerous, but otherwise Uttarakhand is a pretty safe place for tourists. However, tourists are known to encounter problems in the urban centres and the plains districts such as Haridwar.
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